Laundry machine



June 27, 1944. g sg-f'r, JR 2,3525362 4 LAUNDRY MACHINE Filed April 4, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR EEX [ARA flfisslirrJ/a BY, MW ,g xq rw LAUNDRY MACHINE Filed April 4, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 H //6 a0 /K. zo/ /zo I2 OAK I DIST 0 MIN 4 FLUJH FILL I 0 fiLogrswlrav ORA/Aw FL 0.5

F LL 1 RI NJE FL 14: H WASH ATTORNEYS.

Patented June 27, 1944 LAUNDRY MACHINE Rex Earl Bassett, Jr., South Bend, Ind., assignor, by mesne assignments, to American Machine and Metals, Inc., East Moline, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Application April 4, 1938, Serial No. 199,808 10 Claims. '(cl. 68-24) This invention relates to laundry machines,

and is illustrated as embodied in a machine for' washing and rinsing and drying clothes in an automatic cycle.

An object of the invention is to provide such a machine which does not have to be bolted down, and in which vibrations due to the impossibility of perfectly balancing the load are takemcare of withoutsubstantia'l effect on the machine support or on the machine cabinet. This is of special importance in a machine which at one step ofits cycle is driven at high speed to dry the clothes centrifugally.

In one desirabl arrangement this object is attained by yieldingly mounting a unit which includes all the movable machine parts, and which in the illustrated machine includes a horizontal tub and a clothes container in the tub having a drive shaft at one end and a. motor and a multiple-speed gearing driven by the motor and driving the shaft. Preferably there are drain and inlet connections to this unit which have flexible sections so that they do not interfere with the movement of the unit.

Various important. features of novelty relate to the construction and arrangement of the yield ing mountings, and especially an arrangement by which the above-described unit is suspended from them by connecting them to the tub above the center of gravity of the unit, and to the connection of the movable unit to a stationary cabinet which incloses it.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the illustrative embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my novelmachine; j

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken'just inside the front wall of the cabinet of th machine of Figure 1; 1

Figure 3 is a partial section on the line 3-3 of Figure 2 showingdetails of the clothes door construction;

Figure 4 is a partial section on the line |4 of Figure 2 showing details of struction;

Figure 5 is a perspective viewof the novel rubthe soap door conber mounting device;

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view showing details of the construction of the feet on which th machine rests;

I Figure 8 is a wiring diagram of the machine;

and

Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of the operating cycle of the machine.

The machines shown in the drawings are in many respects similar in construction to those fully described, and claimed in a prior joint application of John W. Chamberlin and myself No. 129,429, flied March 6, 1937, matured into Patent No. 2,165,884 on July 11, 1939, and in Dodge application No. 129,412, filed on the same date, matured into Patent No. 2,173,603 on September 19, 1939, and operate automatically according to the same cycle.

In the embodiment of Figures 1-7 the machine includes a. support such as a drawn steel peripherally-flanged base l0 provided with feet l2 resting onthe floor. As shown in Figure 7, the feet preferably consist of blocks l4 secured to the base I! and provided with a coating l6, of brass or the like, to which is vulcanized or otherwise secured a coating or facing l8 of rubber, which frictionally engages the floor.

Just above the feet l2 are novel yielding mounting devices 20, which may be of the form shown in detail in Figures 5 and 6. In the particular form shown in those figures, each of these devices includes a base plate 22 adapted to be bolted to the base l0, and to the upper face of which is vulcanized or otherwise bonded a block 24 of soft rubber material, of the type known as sponge rubber or in some other form which will sustain a considerable load but which offers little resistance, to transverse deflection. v

The base plate 22 is shown formed with front and back flanges 26 embracing the rubber block between them and to which the rubber is preferably vulcanized or otherwise bonded. The upper face of the block 24 has vulcanized thereto a top plate 28 formed with a tapped opening 30 to receive a fastening securing on the mounting a relatively long generally-vertical resilient arm such as a stamping 32 (Figure 2). the resiliency of the arms 32, they olfer little resistance to right and left transverse movements of the operating unit but substantially limit these movements to horizontal motion. This gives the operating unit-substantially the movement of an inverted pendulum, and since the right. and-left transverse forces follow one another much more rapidly than the natural period of theinverted pendulum, they tend to neutralize one another and to limit the lateral movement of the .unit to a small amplitude. j

In order to limit horizontal right and left move- In view of ments, each mounting is provided with a bumper, for example a horizontal u-shaped member 34 having its ends spot-welded to the flanges 26 and having vulcanized to its central section a bumper block 30 of soft rubber. The block 38 is normally spaced from the block 24, and has its face curved to engage the entire upper side of block 36 when flexed to the extreme limit it is desired topermit.

The upper ends of the arms 32 are offset slightly toward the center of the machine, and are secured firmly in any desired manner to the sides of a generally cylindrical tub 38 arranged with its axis substantially horizontal. The tub shown is of the construction described in detail, and

claimed, in the above-identified Dodge application. As best shown in Figures 3 and 4, it is generally cylindrical in shape, with its axis arranged horizontally, and with an opening in its front wall. The rear wall consists of two concave disks 40 peripherally secured together, and secured to Welded or otherwise secured to the bottom of the tub 30, and projecting downwardly there;- from, are brackets 52, to which are pivoted horizontal arms 54 carrying a drive unit consisting of an electric motor 56 and a two-speed transmission 58 driving the belt 50. In the arrangement shown, the motor 56 also drives a rotary pump 60 connected by a suitable flexible conduit 62 to the usual drain connections, and which applies a constant suction to a flexibledrain connection 04 from a drain or screened sump 66 at the bottom of the tub. The drain is controlled by a valve 60 operated by a solenoid I0. The weight 01 the drive unit keeps the belt 50 tight at all times; if the tension on the belt is too great, part of the weight may be taken by springs 12. The speed of the transmission 58 is changed from low to high or vice versa by energizing or de-energizing a solenoid 14 (Figure 8)..

Hot and cold water for washing is supplied to a mixing chamber 16 through hot and cold water inlet valves I and 80 controlled by solenoids 82 and 84. As hereinafter explained, a thermostatic switch 80, subject to the temperature of the water in the. mixing; chamber, is connected in series with the cold watersolenoid 84. A flexible con .duit 88 connects the mixing chamber with an inlet nozzle 00 discharging into the tub 28 at the periphery of the clothes door described below.

A float chamber 02, secured to the back 01 the tub 20, is connected to the lower part of the tub by a conduit 04 and contains a suitable float connected to a. float switch 00 which is connected in series with both inlet solenoids 82 and 84, as shown in Figure 8; this floatmechanism closes both inlet valves whenever the water in the tub reaches a predetermined level. It preferred, the conduit 04 may be flexible, so as to enable relative movement between the tub and the float chamber.

The mechanism described above is inclosed in a housing comprising top and side and rear and front panels which are secured together (and some of which may if desired be integral with each other), and which are mounted on the base III, to form a cabinet 90 for the machine.

The top of the cabinet is formed with an opening, provided with a soap door I00 (Figures 1 and 4), and the margin of this opening is connected to a flange I02 about a corresponding opening in the tub 30 by a tubular flexible member such as a corrugated rubber boot or bellows I04. The front walls of the clothes container 44 and of the tub 38 and of the cabinet 08 are formed as shown in Figure 3 with three registering openings, for theintroduction and withdrawal of the work to be washed. The cabinet is provided with a door I00, hinged at the bottom and having a latch I08 at the top, and which is arranged to seal the cabinet opening and to close the major part oi. the openings in the tub and the clothes container. This door is provided with a dished central portion IIO of glass, oflset inwardly substantially into the plane of the front wall of the clothes container 44, and which serves to hold the clothes in the container during the operation of the machine. H A flexible tubular member such as a rubber boot-or bellows II2 is formed to be snapped over theedges of the openings in the cabinet and the? tub. This boot slopes downwardly at the bottom,'so that it drains back into the tub.

The cycle of the machine is shown diagrammatically in Figure 9. The machine is controlled automatically to give this cycle by a cyclic switch I I4, the operation oi which is shown diagrammatiically in the wiring diagram of Figure 8.

"This switch includes a cam-shaft I I6, driven through a one-way clutch and reduction gearing ii flfby a small constant-speed motor I20 of the typeused in electric clocks.

The cam-shalt] I0 (which, because of the oneway, clutch in the drive, can when desired be advanced manually to shorten the cycle) is 'provided with suitable cams I20 opening and closing contacts or spring switches I22 which control parallel circuits between the power lines I24.

The motors and I20 are controlled by one switch I22, and are on throughout the cycle. The second switch I22 controls the drain valve solenoid I0. The solenoids I4, 02, and 04, are in parallel with each other, but all three are in serieswith the float switch 00, so that the water supply is cut oil when the float i in its upper position, and so that the transmission cannot go sponding to one of the switches I22, and the inner into high speed when there is water in the tub. A manually-operable switch I 20 is provided so that when it is closed the cold water inlet will always be open, under the control of the thermostatic switch 80, whenever the hot water inlet 'is ready. This insures against the water being too hot for woolens and the like.

Figure 9 shows a series of circles, each correone corresponding to the float switch, and indicating just when the various switches open and close throughout the cycle. In the particular cycle illustrated, after the clothes are in the machine and the door I00 closedthe camshaft is advancedv manually from "oi!" to "1111 to start the machine. The machine then fllls with'hot water (or' with mixed water it the switch I20 is closed), to soak the clothes, then drains the excess water away, and comes to rest until the operator starts it again. The operator then again advances the camshaftfrom "oi!" to fill. and then-adds soap through the door I00, watchalways at least slightly ofi center.

ing through the glass I ID to see when a proper suds has formed.

The rest of' the cycle is entirely automatic. The clothes are washed in the manner fully described in a prior. joint patent of JohnW. Chamberlin and myself No. 2,165,884, the dirty wash water is then drained out and rinse water injected, the clothes are then allowed to tumble at low speed without water until uniformly distributed in the clothes container, and the container is then rotated at high'speed long enough to extract most of the rinse water centrifugally. This is followed by another filling and rinsing, followed by a flush rinse with both the drain and inlet open, a second distribution, and anextraction period, and these steps may if desired be repeated as shown to give another rinse and a final relatively long period of centrifugal extraction, after which the machine stops. automatically ready for removal oi. the dry clothes.

The cabinet 98 may have, below the door I06, another door I36 (Figure 1) affording ready access to the drain, the motor, etc.

In the operation of the machine, the yielding devices which support the main operating unit are especially efl'ective during the extraction stages of the cycle, as perfect distribution of the load of course cannot be secured and the load is The off-center loading gives rise to a force which is taken by the floor as to downward. components, and by the weight of the main operating unit as to upward components. This weight is great enough so that even with maximum off-center loading the machine never tends to leave the floor.

The mountings ofier very little resistance to right and left transverse movements of the operating unit, but practically prevent any forward or backward movements, and also limit the right and left movements to rectilinear movement and entirely prevent any horizontal gyratory motion. The right and left transverse movements follow each other in such rapid succession that, due to the inertia of the operating unit and its load, they balance each other out.

While two illustrative embodiments have been described in detail, it is not the intention to limit the scope of the invention to those particular embodiments, or otherwise than by the terms of the appended claims. I

I claim: I

1. A laundry machine including a support, a generally cylindrical tub with its axis substantially horizontal and a container movably mounted in the tub and a motor and multiple-speed gearing driven by the motor and driving the container and all of which are secured together in-a unit, a drain conduit leading from the tub and having a flexible section so that it does not inter- Iere with movement of said unit, an inlet conduit discharging into the tub and having a flexible section so that it does not interfere with the movement of the unit, and means for mounting said unit on the support including laterally yielding devices having connections secured to said unit above its center of gravity and transmitting vertical components of said movements or the unit to said support so that the unit may move in a horizontal plane in the manner oi an inverted pendulum against the yielding resistance of said devices but is prevented from gyrating.

2. .A laundry machine comprising an operating unit which includes a generally cylindrical tub having a generally horizontal axis and a washing container movably mounted in the tub to gether with a motor and transmission means a on the bottom of thetub and weight the same to give the unit as a whole a relatively low center of gravity, and yielding supports engaging 'the tub on its opposite sides in a substantially horizontally horizontal plane and which permit the operating unit to move horizontally relatively freely against a yielding resistance while supporting it vertically to form in efiect a pendulum movable approximately in a horizontal plane.

3. A laundry machine including a support, a generally cylindrical tub with its axis substantially horizontal and a container movably mounted in the tub and a motor and a multiple-speed gearing driven by the motor and driving the container and all of which are secured togetherin a unit, and yielding means for mounting said unit on the support and for transmitting vertical components of said movements of the unit to said support, said yielding means including blocks of rubber material carried by the support and relatively long generally-vertical laterally flexible arms mounted on said blocks and secured at their upper ends to said tub above the center of gravity of said unit, so that the unit may move site the tub opening and in a horizontal plane against the lateral yielding resistance of said arms.

4. A laundry machine comprising a tub and a motor drive mechanism and cleaning means in the tub driven by the motor drive mechanism, all secured together in a unit, a support, means for yieldingly mounting the unit on said support, a cabinet mounted on the support and inclosing said unit, said tub and said cabinet having alined top openings and the cabinet having a door for its openings, and a flexible tubular member connecting said openings.

5. A laundry machine comprising a tub and a motor drive mechanism and cleaning means in the tub driven by the motor drive mechanism, all secured together in a unit, a support, means for yieldingly mounting the unit on said support, a cabinet mounted on the support and inclosing said unit, said tub having an opening in one end and said cabinet having an opening in its side oppoprovided with a door, and a flexible tubular member connecting said openings.

6. A laundry machine comprising a tub and a motor drive mechanism and cleaning means in the tub driven by the motor drive mechanism, all secured together in a unit, a' support, means for yieldingly mounting the unit on said support, a

cabinetmounted on the support and inclosingsaid. unit, said tub having an opening in one end and said cabinet having an opening in its side opposite the tub opening and provided with a door, and a flexible tubular member connecting said openings, the bottom of said member being inclined downwardly into the tub to drain back.

into the tub.

7. A laundry machine comprising a horizontal tub, washing mechanism in the tub and drive means for the washing mechanism, all secured together in a unit, and a support for the unit comprising elongated generally vertical flexible arms secured at their upper ends to the unit above the center of gravity of the unit so that the unit may move in a horizontal plane against the yielding resistance of said arms.

8. In washing apparatus, the combination of a casing structure, a container for fluid disposed within the casing structure, said casing and container having respective registering access openings formed therein, means for agitating the fluid within the container, ineans for flexibly supporting the container within the casing structure, and a wall member extending between the container and the casing and disposed peripherally of said access openings, said wall member permitting tub.

ing mechanism for the basket and carried by the tub whereby the tub. basket and-driving mechanism define a. unit structure, means for flexibly supporting the unit-structure within the casing, and a wall member extending between the tub and the casing and disposed peripherally of said access openings, said wall member permitting relative movement between the hub and casing.

10. The combination as claimed in claim 9 10 wherein said wall member is formed of flexible material secured to the casing structure and the REX EARL BASSE'IT, JR. 

